Raphinha is a name that will forever be etched into Leeds United’s history books for many reasons, but the 28-year-old is also hoping to go down in Catalonia folklore. The winger scored his 25th goal of the season on Wednesday to see 10-man Barcelona claim a 1-0 away win at Benfica in the Champions League round of 16 first leg tie.
The strike means he has now scored nine goals in as many European games this season, which includes a hat-trick against Bayern Munich in October. That was his second treble of the campaign. As a result of his goals tally and 18 assists, many are pitting him against Mohamed Salah as being the best player in the world on current form. Not only is the former Leeds attacker exciting Barcelona fans, he has also grown into one of their leaders.
Hansi Flick has bestowed him the captain’s armband 18 times this season, after being one of four players voted by teammates to become the new leaders of the squad. His progress since starring at Elland Road has been remarkable. Raphinha arrived at the Nou Camp in 2022 after a £55million deal with United was agreed. His last act for the Whites was to slot home a penalty against Brentford on the final day of the 2021/22 season to help the club to a 2-1 win and ultimately stave off relegation.
During the 67 games for Leeds across his stay, Raphinha scored 17 times and assisted 12 more. In 2021, the attacker revealed he had only been given 20 minutes to decide whether to join Leeds from Rennes in 2020.
“If I said it was a simple decision I’d be lying,” he told FourFourTwo. “It was definitely a tough decision. And I had 20 minutes to give my answer - pretty complicated, right?
“On the one hand, I’d just helped Rennes reach the Champions League for the first time in their history, and it would have been brilliant to take part in that unique campaign.
“On the other hand, I had the offer from a traditional, huge club like Leeds, who were also enjoying great momentum having returned to the Premier League.”
Raphinha didn’t look back after deciding to board that flight. He is still adored by the Leeds masses and club fans have hailed the Barcelona star throughout his fantastic form this season.